On the North side of the bridge you will see what appears to be an abandoned launch. The vessel in question is a Class “B” Fairmile. The original design came from the drawing board of an Admiralty Naval Architect during WWII.
Admiralty recommendation that these boats would be suitable for use as submarine chasers in NZ waters resulted in twelve boats being constructed at several shipyards in St Mary’s Bay, Auckland. They were built with double diagonal Kauri planking over Kauri stringers on plywood frames and bulkheads. Frames and bulkheads were supplied in kitset form from the Fairmile Marine Company in England. Keels were of kauri and stem and stern posts were of Pohutukawa. Below the waterline, the hulls were sheathed with copper or muntz metal as a protection against worm attack. The first boat, Q403 was launched at Lidgard’s shipyard on 29 September 1942 and commissioned on 21 October. The last of the series, Q411, was the second boat built at Vos’ yard. She was laid down in November 1942 and launched on 2nd September 1943. She was commissioned on 20th December 1943.
Armament consisted of a Rolls-Royce Mark XIV 2 pounder gun on a mounting forward of the bridge, two twin Lewis guns, later replaced by Vickers guns. A 20mm Oerlikon and 12 depth charges were carried on the after deck. A Holman Projector and a "Y" gun completed the fit. There was a total crew of sixteen. Initial deployment had six boats in Auckland, four in Wellintgon and two at Lyttelton. As the war in the Pacific progressed, it became clear that there was little likelihood of a Japanese submarine threat in NZ waters, although two submarines of the Japanese Navy had visited the area previously. In 1944, the NZ Fairmiles were formed into the 80th and 81st Flotillas and deployed to the Soloman Islands for anti-submarine and convoy escort duties. They also helped in setting up and maintaining Coast Watch stations on remote islands. During their Soloman’s deployment they were under control of US Navy COMSOPAC. At war’s end they returned to NZ and were laid up in the reserve fleet. When RNZN had no further use for them, they were prepared for disposal and brought to an anchorage between Greenhithe and Herald Island.
The vessel you see upstream of the Greenhithe bridge is in fact the former RNZN Fairmile ”B” Class, Q411, P3571, HMNZS Kahu. She is the last of twelve built in NZ during WWII. She was originally commissioned 20th December 1943, finally decommissioned 1965.
She has had several owners since her time on the Tamaki River and coming to the present mooring at Greenhithe. Since arriving at Greenhithe, Kahu has led an interesting life. She has been grafitti’d and has dragged the mooring in heavy weather, coming to rest on the mudflat below Remu Rd. Currently, the wheelhouse door is ajar, suggesting that she has been illegally entered and has probably been vandalised. Since my information for the period to now is rather sketchy, I will not pass it on until such time as it can be confirmed.
( what do you notice different about the boat in the picture? )
Today, I noticed someone going away from the boat in a small boat. As I got closer I could see there was 2 streams of water coming from the hull, obviously pumps were going to de-water the hull.So, someones looking after it still.
Can anyone add anything further?
Cache is a small plastic container its got the usual, plus logbook, pencil.